Three explosive letters that highlight Mahatma Gandhi's deep concerns over the behaviour of his eldest son, Harilal, will go under the hammer next week.

Mullock's Auctioneers, based in Shropshire, are hoping to fetch up to £60,000 for a set of three letters written by the man regarded as the father of India in June 1935.

In the letters between the father and son, Ghandi accuses Harilal of raping his granddaughter and asks if he is still interested in alcohol and debauchery.

The three letters Mahatma Gandhi (left) sent to his eldest son Harilal (right) in 1935 accuse him of rape, and are expected to fetch up to £60,000 when they are sold next week by auction house Mullock's in Shropshire

Historic: The letters are written in Gujarati and one says: 'Please let me have pure truth. Please tell me if still you are interested in alcohol and debauchery. I wish that you better die rather than resort to alcohol'

In one of the letters, Gandhi writes:
'You should know that your problem has become much more difficult for me
even then our national freedom.

'Manu is telling me number of dangerous things about you. She says that you had raped her before eight years and she was so much hurt that medical treatment had to be taken.'

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In another he writes: 'Please let me have pure truth. Please
tell me if still you are interested in alcohol and debauchery. I wish
that you better die rather than resort to alcohol in any manner.

And one dated November 11, 1930 reads: 'Women have done more work than us. Even
so much remains to be done. The modern world has as yet seen the like of
India's woman power. I am convinced they will go much further ahead and
I will be very surprised if you do not play a very big part in this.'

The earliest letters date back to 1920,
but others are from 1930s and the majority date from the crucial period
of 1938-1944 in the Indian national movement.

Family rift: One of the letters which will be sold next week together with its translation into English

Granddaughter: Another of the letters says: 'I can never believe that Manu [would tell] a lie'

Rape allegation: The third of the letters says his granddaughter was saying 'a number of dangerous things'

The series of letters is part of Mullock's Historical Documents Sale at Ludlow Racecourse on May 22.

It also includes another set of 27 autographed letters to Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, some written by Gandhi from prison.

A spokesperson for Mullocks said: 'The letters are written in Gujarati and
are in good condition. These have come via descent from a branch of
Gandhi's family to the present vendor.

'As far as we are aware they have
never before been seen in public and as such they provide remarkable new
information on the troubled relationship Gandhi had with his son.

It is thought Harilal
had wanted to go to England to study to become a barrister like his
father but Ghandi had firmly opposed this, believing a Western
education would not be helpful in the struggle against British Raj.

Father of India: The letters were written at the height of Mahatma Gandhi's prominence in the 1920s and 30s

This
led to Harilal renouncing all family ties in 1911, and his troubled
relationship with his father continued throughout his life.

Richard
Westwood-Brookes, the auction house's historical documents specialist,
told MailOnline: 'One of the things I obviously did check out was that
the letters were genuine.

'They
have been shown to Harilal's biographer and to someone from Gandhi's
Ashram and he's confirmed that they are 100 per cent genuine.

'His relationship with his son was quite well-known to be pretty fraught, to say the least.'